A long time ago, a great battle took place.
A battle, which this being lost.
Long before Bibi Di released Majin Buu, he was the Kai-o-shin's greatest enemy.
He tried his hardest to fight them but they were many and he was but one.
In the end, he was defeated and the Kai-o-shins sealed him away here. Where was here? Nowhere. He was locked away in a lifeless void in a pocket of an alternate dimension, fated to spend the rest of his existence to slowly go insane in this perfectly sterile environment.
In this totally sensory deprived area, he spent many eons plotting revenge against the Kai-o-shins of his galaxy and it always ate at him, knowing that his dream of revenge would remain just that…a dream.
But something happened that gave him a glimmer of hope that his dream could become a reality. The fabric of time and space had, somehow, been severely weakened. If only his powers weren't being inhibited, he would have been able to break out of his prison already.
There was nothing he could do now but wait and hope that the boundaries of space and time would be weakened further.
Dreamweaver Studios Presents
Dragonball Z
Tainted Hearts
Part six
High in the crystal blue, early morning sky, for alien warriors soared at top speed towards their next battle. Three of the four had fighting in their blood and under normal circumstances, they would be very excited, looking forward to the challenge.
These weren't normal circumstances.
Indeed, it seemed that, this time, they met enemies they had no hope of defeating. It wasn't because they couldn't do it; to the contrary, even though their enemies are incredibly powerful, at their strongest, two of the four, Son Goku and Son Gohan could still easily defeat them. The problem was this time, these were enemies they, especially Son Goku and Son Gohan, were unwilling to defeat.
This time, their enemies were their friends.
Each flew in silence, contemplating their coming battle. None noticed when the terrain shifted from smooth rolling plains to rugged, unforgiving mountains. Of them all, however, Piccolo wasn't too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice when #18 slowed. "What is it?" Piccolo asked.
"We're pretty close now," #18 said. "You should wait out here while I go inside first."
"And what?" went Vegeta, "Warn the others in there that we're here? I knew you couldn't be trusted."
#18 looked at him, "Are you done? I should be able to disable the computer once I'm inside. Hopefully, we should be able to get the others back without a fight. But you guys need to set down here."
"Here? Why?" asked Gohan.
"If he had cameras following each of us, then it's a safe bet that he has others surrounding his lab watching for intruders. And if they spot you, there will be a fight. You do want to avoid that, don't you?"
"Alright, we'll keep back," Goku said. "We're counting on you."
With a nod, #18 flew onward while the other four stopped. As she slowed down and descended to the mountains below, each took note of where, exactly, she landed. She touched down on a wide ledge with nothing but sheer rock face in front of her. She put a hand on the rock face and it suddenly swung inward. She stepped in and the rock door closed behind her.
"Hmm…" went Piccolo, as he surveyed the area surrounding the lab entrance. "Clever. The area surrounding the doorway is completely uncovered. We would be spotted the instant we got anywhere near it. We should do what she says for now." After his analysis, Piccolo descended to the cover of the forest below. The Saiyans followed suit.
"*Che*…I don't see why we have to slink around in the shadows like this. It's cowardly."
"I know what you're thinking," Goku said. "And the answer is no. I'm not about to have us bursting in there, blasting away, possibly hurting our friends when there's a chance we can get them back without even fighting."
As he spoke, Goku leveled Vegeta with a glare that he usually reserved for hated enemies. As Vegeta recalled, the only time he had been on the receiving end of that glare was just after Babi Di had corrupted him and he killed those people at the boudokai stadium. Vegeta ignored the words, but the glare, even though he didn't show it, shook him greatly. Feeling he had no choice but to consent, Vegeta turned his back to the others, "Humph, have it your way."
**
"You lost?" the android said, indignant. "All of you LOST?" He put his hand to his head and rubbed his temples, feigning a headache. "And just how is it that you could have been defeated? I augmented your abilities, so that you were more powerful then they were."
"Actually, that's not true," Yamucha said.
The android looked at him, "Excuse me?"
"Vegeta was going all out when we fought. Our powers were equal."
"So they were a little stronger than I anticipated," said the android. "Still, you were equal. Why did you retreat?"
"Because, one on one, we were a match for them. But we had no choice but to leave when it became two on one." Yamucha could see the understanding wash over the android's face. "I had Vegeta dead to right because, even though our powers were equal, my endurance was higher. But before I could go in for the kill, Piccolo appeared out of nowhere and gave him a senzu bean. There was no way I could have won against a refreshed Vegeta in the shape I was in. The addition of Piccolo only made things worse."
"Afterwards, Piccolo and Vegeta came and saved Goku and Gohan from us," added Kuririn. "We had no choice."
The android took in all of the information. "It seems the key player in all of this is Piccolo. Because of him, everything went to waste. #18 was fighting against him." He looked at the group again, "And where is android #18?"
"Right here," #18 said, striding into the main lab.
"You're a mess," Kuririn noted. He walked up to her and gave her hand a squeeze. Funny, even with the mess they found themselves in, Kuririn still managed to be affectionate with her. It just struck her as odd that, even though he had been brainwashed by that thing, that he would be the same with her.
"I've seen you looking better too," she returned.
"And what happened to you?" asked the android.
"Excuse me?"
"It's quite simple. Piccolo was the first to interrupt a fight. You were the one who was fighting Piccolo, which means that, somehow, you were the first one to be defeated. But, you are the last one back. Why is that?"
Kuririn immediately jumped in, "Hold on, you aren't implying #18 betrayed us, are you?"
"Simply being careful," said the android. "Answer the question."
"I won't make any excuses," lied #18, "the Namek was stronger than I thought."
"What do you mean? Piccolo should have been no problem for you."
"I wasn't talking about him. I was talking about the other Namek."
"You can't be talking about Dende," blurted Yamucha. "He can't be that strong. He's not even a fighter."
She hadn't known the little Namek well, but what she did see of him, he was passive; which was perfect. Yamucha's last statement only confirmed what she suspected. The bluff should work. "Then I guess you've never seen him fight. He is usually passive, but even he has his limits. He couldn't take seeing Piccolo being beaten like he was and decided to intervene."
"It kinda makes sense," said Kuririn. "After seeing his family killed by Freeza and everything that happened with Cell and Majin Buu, he probably felt as helpless as we used to. And seeing #18 beating the crap out of Piccolo caused him to snap."
#18 nodded, "Together, Dende and Piccolo were able to defeat me. After Dende healed Piccolo, they decided they would hold me on Kami's lookout while Piccolo went to help the Saiyans. But on his own, he was no match for me. So, not long after Piccolo left, I escaped."
"You didn't hurt him, did you?" asked Yamucha.
"Of course not. I'm only interested in Piccolo. I won't harm anyone else if I don't have to, especially not Kami."
"There, do you see?" Kuririn said to the android. "Perfectly good explanation. I hope you understand now that my wife is many things, but she is not a liar." That hurt. Kuririn's show of faith in her jolted her and caused her to lose composure momentarily. No one noticed.
"I see," said the android. "Very well. All of you should rest yourselves and heal. We've lost the element of surprise and we'll need to plan our next offensive."
"Understood," everyone said in unison.
**
Finally alone, #18 found her way to the inner sanctum of the lab, where the main computer was housed. While she was being injected with the nanoprobes and was given instructions, she traced the signal back to its source and picked up some vital information. She wasn't able to get everything, but enough to know that the Red Ribbon army wasn't dead yet and to know that this is the computer that's sending the instructions to her and the others.
The android hadn't had the time to set any backups in place yet, so when this computer was taken down, that should free Kuririn and everyone else. She raised her hand and gathered her energy. One blast and this would all be over
'…I hope you understand now that my wife is many things, but she is not a liar.'
Remembering Kuririn's words, she hesitated. He had such faith in her. That was one of the reasons she fell in love with him, he had a faith in her that no one else was willing to give her…that no one else could get him to break. Even now, under the control of this android, Kuririn's faith in her was shining through.
And she lied to him.
She knew what she was doing was right, rescuing him from the android. But that still didn't quell the guilt she felt. Kuririn was everything to her now and the thought of losing him, no matter how slim the chance was, scared her. She didn't think she would be able to exist without Kuririn by her side.
'This has to be done. We can't stay under the thumb of this machine. And I know Kuririn wouldn't be able to live with himself if he ever hurt his friends. I just hope he can forgive me for this afterwards.'
Steeling herself, she gathered her energy again. This time, it's over.
"#18!" Or not…
She turned around and found the android standing behind her. And behind him were Videl, Yamucha and Kuririn. "As I thought. It looks like I was right to be suspicious about you." She should have never hesitated. She turned back to the computer and charged to fire. "Restrain her." With the blinking of an eye, Videl and Yamucha had #18's arms held back. They turned her around, facing the android and Kuririn.
"You lied…" Kuririn said, a hurt expression on his face. "I stood up for you and you lied…to me…" #18 averted her eyes, unable to bear the withering gaze from her husband.
"She has betrayed us," said the android. "There is only one way to repay betrayal. I think that honor should go to you, Kuririn." Kuririn looked at him and he nodded, adding, "Eliminate her."
Kuririn stepped in front of the android and looked at his wife. She lied to him. After he stood up for her she lied. She deserved to be punished. But…kill her? He looked back to the android and he nodded again. Turning back to her, he raised his hand and gathered his ki. He was right, there was only one way to pay back betrayal.
She looked at him, her eyes filled with pain and defiance and his hand began to tremble. This was his wife…the mother of his child…how could he even think about doing this? He couldn't bring himself to kill her before, there was no way he could do it now, not even for him. Despite how she had hurt him, he still loved her. And from the look in her eyes, it was apparent that she loved him dearly as well.
'How do I get out of this?' Kuririn thought. His eyes widened as the answer was provided for him. "He's here…"
The android looked at him, "Who's here?"
Kuririn's eyes narrowed. "Goku."
"He's here?"
"Yeah, he is," confirmed Yamucha. "Vegeta is there too, along with Gohan and Piccolo. Their ki is very faint, like they're trying to hide form us, but I can feel it. They're right outside."
"You had them follow us, 'ay #18? Kuririn, Videl, Yamucha, I know how badly you want to rip into them, so I won't stop you. Leave #18 with me."
"Right." Now he'd have to do his own dirty work and, thanks to #18, they all knew that the android was nowhere near as strong as they were.
**
"I knew we shouldn't have trusted that machine!" spat Vegeta.
"But there are only three of them," Gohan stated. "What happened to #18?"
"Who cares!" Vegeta powered to SSJ level 2, "Yamucha is mine!" At that, he shot into the air, strait at Yamucha.
Goku powered up to the same level. "Gohan, get ready to defend yourself. Piccolo, it's all up to you now. You have to find that computer and destroy it."
"Right."
**
Piccolo reached the entrance to the lab as the battle between the Humans and the Saiyans got into full swing. Not wasting any time, he blasted the door open and entered the lab. There wasn't really much to the place, it was like Gero's lab in that respect. As he continued inward, he could make out the sound of verbal fighting.
"I'm going to make you pay for brainwashing Kuririn!" That was #18. Apparently, she hadn't betrayed them.
"Humph, you have no idea how wrong you are." That must be the other android she was talking about. "Actually, that was my original intention, turning them into my minions to kill Goku. But, apparently, the people who created me didn't do a good job of it, because I made some serious errors when coding the instructions for the nanoprobes, although it turned out so much better.
"You see, they aren't brainwashed. All I ended up doing was powering you up and giving you nudges in the right direction. Everything you've done since then were things you've secretly wanted to do." There was a pause, Piccolo guessed because he was enjoying the response he was getting from #18. Piccolo guessed she had a reaction similar to his.
"Y-you mean that Kuririn secretly wanted to kill Goku all this time?" #18 asked. There was another pause. "And I really blamed Piccolo for what happened to me and #17?"
"To be honest, I don't know what's the matter with you," the android said. "Maybe it has something to do with your being an android. Then again, you do have a history of betrayal. Perhaps I will find out after I rip you apart, piece by piece."
"You must be defective," taunted #18. "Maybe you've forgotten, but you made us incredibly powerful, more so than yourself. You can't beat me, but I can certainly beat you!" Piccolo chanced a peek around the corner. #18 was in a fighting stance, while, he guessed, the android was facing her with his hands at his waist.
"Can you now?" the android asked coolly. Bearing her teeth in a snarl, #18 lunged at him. She reared her fist back, primed to strike him, then froze. From her expression, it appeared to Piccolo like she was struggling against something. "What's the matter? I'm right here."
"What's…happening…" went #18.
"Heh, I'm not the fool Gero was. The instructions coming form the computer may be faulty, but not the instructions hard coded into the probes. No matter how badly you may want to, you can't hurt me. But I can hurt you." To prove his case, he backhanded her in the face. #18 staggered back a few feet, then touched her face and examined her hand. "As you can tell, that's not all"
"Wha-what in the…" she stammered, gawking at the blood.
"Heh, I also coded the probes to shoot intense pain through your body when I and only I strike you. The brain is such a wonderful thing. I can't hurt you directly, but by making your brain think I actually hurt you, it makes your body respond accordingly." He landed a punch on her stomach followed by an uppercut to the face. She landed hard on the far wall, making a deep hole with her body. She then landed on the floor, coughing violently and breathing hard. "Guess what will happen if your brain thinks I landed a punch hard enough to kill…"
Unable to take anymore, Piccolo powered up and charged in, kicking the android in the face, away from #18. The android pushed himself off of the ground and looked at his attacker, "YOU?!"
"Maybe she can't hurt you, but I can!"
**
Boy, did that hurt. Goku wiped the blood from his mouth and waited for Kuririn's next assault. Somehow, he seemed to have lost a step since their last encounter. It's likely because they didn't have time enough to heal from their last encounter, so Goku was fresh, while Kuririn was worn. If he were any other opponent, Goku would have capitalized on the weakness, but again, he was hampered with not wanting to seriously hurt his friend.
Vegeta, as he figured, wasn't having the same problems. He appeared to have the upper hand against Yamucha, who was backpedaling from Vegeta's onslaught. After what appeared to be a sloppy move on Yamucha's part, Vegeta caught him with a backhand to the face that propelled him through several low altitude peeks before skidding to a halt on the rocky terrain below. Vegeta followed up with a large ki blast that resulted in a mushroom cloud that could be seen for miles around.
Dammit, Vegeta was fighting to kill. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the only way to approach this, because Vegeta was the only one holding his own. Barely. Thinking he was down, Vegeta was caught off guard as Yamucha appeared behind him and nailed him with a kick to the head, causing Vegeta to crash down to the ground. As Vegeta bounced from the impact Yamucha came down, legs fully extended and landed a crushing blow on the small of Vegeta's back. If Vegeta were even the slightest bit weaker, his back would have been shattered.
There was another explosion behind Goku. He turned around and saw Gohan struggling to get to his feet. He seemed to be less inclined to fight than Goku himself. Not far away was Videl, slowly stalking him.
"Videl, please, don't do this," Gohan said weakly.
"Don't?" Videl repeated, her voice dripping with venom. "Why not?"
"Because…" Gohan paused, "because, I love you."
Videl stopped in her tracks, "What?"
"I…" Gohan suddenly found it difficult to talk. He knew it to be true. He enjoyed the time they spent together and would, sometimes, make up excuses to be with her. With this threatening to rip them apart forever, he felt if this weren't said now, it would never be said. "I love you…Videl…"
Goku could see the change on Videl's face. As she continued to approach him, the look of glaring hatred melted to one of absolute bliss. "G-Gohan…"
A look of hope flashed across Gohan's face, "Videl…"
As they got close, Videl caught Gohan with a roundhouse to the temple. As Gohan recovered from the blow, Videl sneered at him, "Next time, declare your love to someone who cares." Ouch. Goku didn't know what hurt worse, the kick or the rejection.
Sensing movement in front of him, Goku turned around just in time to get nailed by a punch to the jaw. "You should pay attention to your own fight 'buddy'!" said Kuririn. Goku righted himself and prepared to defend himself. He really hoped Piccolo would hurry with that computer.
**
While Piccolo and the android were battling, #18 lay sprawled on the ground, struggling just to get to her hands and knees. Never before had she experienced such pain. Even though the blows were received some time ago, the pain still resonated through her like it was freshly delivered. Not used to having to endure pain like this, she found it difficult to even think.
She couldn't remember anything before Gero turned her and her brother into the cybernetic beings they were now. Even though both had been beaten many times while in battle, neither felt any physical pain; it was an alien concept to both. She couldn't understand how the others could function through such horrid sensations…they were too much to bear.
There was a loud thud beside her. She tried to see passed the stars obscuring her vision to see to her side. Piccolo was there, also struggling to get to his feet, with more success. "#18, what are you doing? While I'm keeping this thing busy, destroy the computer!"
"Can't…move…the pain…"
Piccolo looked at her. "You've never experienced real pain before, have you?" She held her head down, suddenly finding it too heavy for her neck to support. "Listen to me, you have to focus. Block out the pain and do what you have to do!"
"How?" she asked, her words escaping in rasps. "How do you do it?"
"It can be hard, but you're strong. You can do it." Piccolo got ready to attack again, but before he did, he added, "Remember, you have people counting on you."
As Piccolo attacked the android again, #18's eyes opened wide at his parting words. 'People are counting on me…Kuririn…' Even though the android said that they were doing what they secretly wanted to do, 18 remembered him saying, too, that the computer was sending instructions to them. Even though Kuririn may have wanted more than anything to be as strong as Goku and may have even wanted to beat him in a match, did he really want to kill him? Or was the computer feeding him that? '…Marron…' Their daughter…if they were going to stay under the service of this android, what would become of her?
With her husband and child on her mind, she blocked out the blinding pain and pushed herself to her feet. The android saw her stand and turn towards the computer. He tried to stop her again, but Piccolo blocked his advance. Once again, she gathered her energy and this time, she fired, destroying the computer.
"NO, YOU FOOL! DO YOU KNOW WHATYOU'VE DONE?!?" the android screamed.
The destruction of the main computer caused a chain of explosions to resonate throughout the lab. The three occupants hurried for the exit but were too late as the explosion totally obliterated roughly one tenth of the mountain range.
**
He was down; the gloss in his hair was gone. Goku was beaten. Kuririn had him. He raised his hand to deliver the deathblow, signifying his final and long in coming victory over Goku. Before he was able to deliver the blow, an explosion rocked the area. At the same time, something within Kuririn clicked. He looked gazed at his surroundings, as if noticing them for the first time. Then he turned his attention to his friend lying at his feet. "Goku…"
Goku slowly opened an eye. He could see the confused look on his friend's face. "Kuririn…you're back."
It was as if waking up from a dream. Kuririn could remember everything that happened, everything he had done. "Goku, I'm sorry…I'm so--"
"Don't worry about it," Goku said weakly. "It wasn't your fault…"
There was another awakening taking place not far away. She had her energy gathered, poised to incinerate her hybrid opponent. But, as with Kuririn, with the explosion came her freedom from the android's influence. She saw Gohan lying face down in the ground and the tears began streaming from her eyes as his earlier words struck her.
She ran to his side and propped his head on her lap. "G-Gohan!"
"Videl…" went Gohan in a frail voice.
She looked into his eyes, fear evident on her face and nervousness filling her voice "Did…did you mean what you said before? Do…do you really love me?"
He nodded. "I have been for a long time…I was…scared to say so before…but I was more scared of losing you…I felt I had to say it…"
The tears intensified, "Gohan…you have no idea how long I've wanted to hear that…I was afraid if I said anything before I might have scared you away…I love you too Gohan…"
Another explosion ripped through the sky, catching
everyone's attention. Yamucha had struck Vegeta down to the ground again and
began raining down ki blasts at his fallen form. As the smoke cleared, Vegeta
was revealed, unconscious, but alive.
"Yamucha!" yelled Kuririn. "STOP! We're free from that android! You don't have to do this!"
"I DON'T CARE!" screamed Yamucha. "Not only did he have me killed, but he took any chance I had for happiness away from me. I've finally been given a chance to get even with him and I won't let it go to waste!"
"What do you think this will do to Bulma?" asked Kuririn.
Yamucha paused. She conspired with Vegeta to do this to him. He shouldn't care how she felt. But, as he searched within himself, he found he did still care for her. Even though he harbored the same animosity for her as he did Vegeta, he knew he couldn't do anything purposely to hurt her. Reluctantly, he allowed the energy to dissipate and he landed.
He looked at Vegeta's fallen form with distain, then walked away from him. Kuririn put a hand on Yamucha's shoulder, "You did right, man." Yamucha snorted and turned away from him. "Come on, we gotta get these guys healed."
"Healed?" a voice rang out. "That's a step in the wrong direction." The Humans turned to find the battered android walking towards them. He surveyed the battlefield, noting the conditions of the Saiyans. "Heh, not bad work. It would be a shame to undo all that you've done so far."
Kuririn moved between him and Goku. "We're not your pawns anymore. If you want to get to Goku, you're going to have to get by us first!"
The android smiled, "If you wish…" The android launched himself at Kuririn, landing a strait punch in his midsection. Kuririn doubled over, pain shooting throughout his being, worse than the pain he experienced after being struck by Cell. The android's smile broadened and he backhanded Kuririn away from the fallen Saiyan.
At the sight of seeing his friend felled, Yamucha leaped into action. Vegeta was one thing, but there was no way he was going to stand by and let Goku and Kuririn get hurt by that thing. He powered up and primed a massive ki blast to incinerate the android. At the point of firing, however, the blast fizzled to nothing. Yamucha looked at his hand, "What the…"
"Understand now?" asked the android. "The probes give you immense power, but they also restrict you from attacking me." As he did with Kuririn, he swatted Yamucha out of his way. He turned to Videl, looking to see if she was going to make a similar move. She clutched Gohan closer to her, but made no aggressive move. Still smiling, he looked down at the defenseless Saiyan at his feet. "Well, Son Goku, at last we meet face to face." He extended his hand and aimed it at Goku's head. "Such a shame that our first meeting is going to be cut short. At last, after all this time, the Red Ribbon army will finally have its retribution."
Before he was able to fire, his enhanced hearing detected a whistling sound. He turned towards the sound in time to see a spiraling energy blast a split second just before it struck him dead center in the chest, knocking him away from Goku. As he recovered from the blast, he found Piccolo and #18 standing in front of his target. "Damn…they survived too…"
With no words, Piccolo handed #18 his last two senzu beans. She took one, broke it and fed half to Goku. After gaining a measure of relief, Goku stood up and dusted himself off. "That's much better. Thank you. So, this is the android behind all of this, huh?"
Damn it. This was the end. He was barely a match for Piccolo. There was no way he could stand up to Goku in his present state. "It looks as though I've lost…" He stood up and faced all of his enemies. "I don't think we've been properly introduced yet. I'm Neo. Remember that name, because you WILL see me again!" He spread out his arms and flashed his energy, similar to the Solar Flare, blinding everyone. By the time everyone got their vision back, Neo was long gone.
"He got away," lamented Piccolo.
"Does it matter?" #18 said, helping her husband to his feet.
"No, it doesn't. Not now anyway," stated Goku as he looked at his friends. "We should look after our own first. He'll get his another time."
**
Three days had passed since the android Neo had vanished and no one had heard from him since. That suited Kuririn just fine. He was just glad to be home again. The others had agreed to meet in a few days at Capsule Corp. to celebrate their return. Until then, it was recommended that all of them recuperated from their ordeal.
After looking them over, Bulma noted that even though the probes within them weren't receiving instructions anymore, they were still working from the commands hard coded within them. Which meant the power they gave Kuririn and the others were still theirs to command. To be on par with Goku again…it was something he dreamed of for so long…
"HA! Got you!" went little Marron, jumping on her father's back.
'Things were definitely going to be different', he mused,. Now, he had the power to defend his family properly from any dangers that would threaten them. Nothing would harm his family ever again.
#18 couldn't help but smile, watching Kuririn and Marron play on the beach. Unlike Kuririn, she didn't care that she was no longer on the Saiyan's level. She was happy with the way things were before. She didn't think she could ever have a normal life, but Kuririn provided her with one in the form of, what she felt, was the perfect family. He once confided in her that a family was what he wanted too, more than anything. Somewhere down the line, he must have forgotten that.
"He looks so happy, doesn't he?" asked Roshi. "A far cry from the way he was before, 'eh?"
"Yeah. He is," she said.
"He's so giddy to be so strong, he hasn't been still since he got back."
"I know better than anyone," she commented, remembering the previous three nights.
"Well, maybe now things will get back to normal around here."
'…they aren't brainwashed. All I ended up doing was powering you up and giving you nudges in the right direction. Everything you've done since then were things you've secretly wanted to do.' "I do hope so…" she said, trying to shake the memory of the android's words.
Roshi put a hand on her, "C'mon, dear. Have faith. I know things will be all right. Just you wait and see."
Here eyes changed, from the one filled with worry over her husband, back to their usual cold appearance and grabbed the aged master by the head. "Remember what I said I'd do the last time you put your hand on my behind?"
She began to squeeze his shiny head. "See," he said, "-OOH!- things are –OOCH!-getting back to normal -IIEE!-already. OUCH!"
**
**